Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, 2 which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, 3 concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh 4 and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, 5 through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ,
7 To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 1:1-7)
This is just Paul’s formal greeting to the church of Rome, but he has already spoken with more content and depth than what many of us will speak in this whole day or in a hundred emails. Here are few things I noticed.
First, his emphasis is on God’s work and not ours. Neither in complaint or in boast does he speak of himself. This guy second only to Jesus probably changed the world more than any other person in history. And yet his words all emphasize God’s activity. Just take the words “called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God.” There are a lot of ways that Paul in essence could have said the same thing without putting God’s role front and center. He could have just said, “It’s me, Paul, the apostle (you know the one with direct divine authority), who is taking the gospel to the Gentiles because nobody else would do it, and somebody had to step up and get it done. The one who promoted this whole movement of Christianity going into all the world including Rome. The one who is largely responsible for your salvation and your church.” No, the gospel has spread through him because he was “called” by God, “set apart” for the task, and later “received grace and apostleship”(Romans 1:5).
Furthermore, this gospel is all of God’s doing. God promised it throughout the Old Testament (By the way, he says, “Through his prophets,” but first century Jews considered anyone whom God spoke to and through a prophet. Abraham, Moses, David, etc. were prophets). What God promised, he delivered in the form of His Son who descend from David (see 2 Samuel 7:12-13) and thus is the Messianic King, and whom God declared to be His divine Son through the power displayed in his resurrection from the dead. In other words, the only reason Paul has any meaning or purpose at all is because God has been working out his grand plan of salvation throughout the history of the world, and has now brought the climax to pass in Jesus the Messiah (i.e. Christ) our Lord.
Even when he speak of the Romans, he refers to them as those “who are loved by God and called to be saints.” He does not say, “Those who had the faith to call on God and love God.” Certainly, he believes that they have faith in God and love for Him. But always in Paul’s eyes it is God’s call and God’s love that takes priority. “You are,” he says to the Romans, “people whom God called to Himself, whom God pursued, whom God bathed in His love. That is who you are. That is your identity.” The bottom line is that Paul grounded what he thought of himself, his mission, and of others first and foremost in God.
3 comments:
I just finished watching the video link you provided last month from Roots Rain on the size of our universe. It boggles my mind. It humbles me, and makes me realize that God is infinitely bigger, stronger, more creative, smarter, more loving, more miraculous, and on and on, than I typically give him credit for in my mind. And by what you have said, it appears that Paul has a much better appreciation and understanding of God than I often do. The awe and wonder of our God, and of His power needs to be written on my heart and mind every day. Paul recognized it, and in these days of incertainty we need to as well.
With today's society and the very individualistic culture of America, this concept of "It's all about God" is very hard for people to grasp. Most Americans have lived life thinking it's all about what makes me happy, it’s all about me. Watch any Disney movie or Oprah show and you can see that. So what Paul has done in the intro to Romans is leaving and I’m sure has left a lot of people saying "what? I don't get it" and I say this not as someone on the outside looking in, no, I say this because I can look at myself at any given time and with some deep thought say, "man I’m so off course, it's not even funny". But way too often I don't do this and thank God by his grace I can change.
I like the beginning of the verse, where, in verse 4, he says, "and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by His resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship..."
This is saying that Jesus backed up His claim of being the Son of God. I could claim I was the son of God, many have done such, but Jesus backed it up, He rose from the dead. This sets Him up as the true Messiah, and the true Son of God. This sets Christ up as the only One who may give us salvation.
What is awesome about that is that Jesus chose to give His salvation to all men, regardless of station. That gave us, gentiles, the opportunity to live in the death of Christ, to become holy just as He is holy. He gave us the power to become saints in Him, giving us a gift that He gave only to His chosen people.
It grants us an inheritance that was promised from the beginning of time. We are now sons of God
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